sb-269970 and Psychotic-Disorders

The 5-hydroxytryptamine7 (5-HT7) receptor is a G-protein coupled receptor for serotonin that has been implicated in the pathophysiology of psychiatric and neurological disorders including anxiety, depression and schizophrenia. A number of studies have attempted to evaluate the potential role of the 5-HT7 receptor in schizophrenia by utilising genetic or pharmacological tools but to date these have provided conflicting results. Here we investigate the effect of a selective 5-HT7 receptor antagonist, SB-269970, in in vivo psychosis and cognition models and relate efficacy to brain exposures of the compound. SB-269970 significantly attenuated amphetamine-induced rearing and circling in rats. A similar effect was observed in an N-methyl d-aspartic acid (NMDA) receptor antagonist driven psychosis model, where SB-269970 significantly reversed phencyclidine-induced hyperlocomotion, rearing and circling; although the effect was not as robust as with the 5-HT2a receptor antagonist positive control, MDL100,907. SB-269970 also attenuated a temporal deficit in novel object recognition (NOR), indicative of an improvement in recognition memory. Pharmacokinetic analysis of plasma and brain samples taken after behavioural testing confirmed that efficacy was achieved at doses and pre-treatment times where receptor occupancy was substantial. These findings highlight the anti-psychotic and pro-cognitive potential of 5-HT7 receptor antagonists and warrant further studies to explore their therapeutic potential in schizophrenia.

Topics: Amphetamine; Animals; Animals, Outbred Strains; Cognition; Disease Models, Animal; Fluorobenzenes; Locomotion; Male; Phencyclidine; Phenols; Piperidines; Psychotic Disorders; Rats; Rats, Sprague-Dawley; Receptors, Serotonin; Recognition, Psychology; Serotonin Antagonists; Sulfonamides

5-HT7 receptors have been linked to a number of psychiatric disorders including anxiety and depression. The localization of 5-HT7 receptors in the thalamus, a key sensory processing center, and the high affinity of many atypical antipsychotic compounds for these receptors have led to the speculation of the utility of 5-HT7 antagonists in schizophrenia. The goal of these studies was to examine the effects of pharmacologic blockade and genetic ablation of 5-HT7 receptors in animal models predictive of antipsychotic-like activity. We evaluated the effects of SB-269970, a selective 5-HT7 receptor antagonist, on amphetamine and ketamine-induced hyperactivity and prepulse inhibition (PPI) deficits. In addition, sensorimotor gating function and locomotor activity were evaluated in 5-HT7 knockout mice. Locomotor activity was measured for up to 180 min using an automated infrared photobeam system, and PPI was evaluated in startle chambers. SB-269970 (3, 10 and 30 mg/kg, intraperitoneally) significantly blocked amphetamine [3 mg/kg, subcutaneously (s.c.)] and ketamine (30 mg/kg, s.c.)-induced hyperactivity and reversed amphetamine (10 mg/kg, s.c.)-induced but not ketamine (30 mg/kg, s.c.)-induced PPI deficits, without changing spontaneous locomotor activity and startle amplitude. The largest dose of SB-269970 did not block the effects of amphetamine in 5-HT7 knockout mice. Collectively, these results indicate that blockade of 5-HT7 receptors partially modulates glutamatergic and dopaminergic function and could be clinically useful for the treatment of positive symptoms of schizophrenia.

Topics: Amphetamine; Animals; Antipsychotic Agents; Arousal; Brain; Disease Models, Animal; Dopamine; Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; Glutamine; Injections, Intraperitoneal; Injections, Subcutaneous; Ketamine; Male; Mice; Mice, Inbred C57BL; Mice, Knockout; Motor Activity; Phenols; Psychotic Disorders; Receptors, Serotonin; Reflex, Startle; Sulfonamides; Synaptic Transmission